§ 113A-164.2. Declaration of policy and purpose. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 113A‑164.2. Declaration of policy and purpose.

(a)        The continued population growth and land development inNorth Carolina have made it necessary and desirable that areas of naturalsignificance be identified and preserved before they are destroyed. Thesenatural areas are irreplaceable as laboratories for scientific research, asreservoirs of natural materials for uses that may not now be known, as habitatsfor plant and animal species and biotic communities, as living museums wherepeople may observe natural biotic and environmental systems and theinterdependence of all forms of life, and as reminders of the vital dependenceof the health of the human community on the health of the other naturalcommunities.

(b)        It is important to the people of North Carolina that theyretain the opportunity to maintain contact with these natural communities andenvironmental systems of the earth and to benefit from the scientific,aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual values they possess. The purpose of thisArticle is to establish and maintain a State Registry of Natural Heritage Areasand to prescribe methods by which nature preserves may be dedicated for thebenefit of present and future citizens of the State. (1985, c. 216, s. 1.)